Renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark visited FIT in September as the first guest of the Photography Department's 2010-11 Photo Talk series, which is free and open to the public. In the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, Mark presented several slideshows of her work over the years, offering insight into her methods, the evolution of photojournalism, and the stories behind some of her pictures. The evening closed with a screening of Prom (2010), a documentary by her husband, filmmaker Martin Bell, for which Mark has taken a companion series of portraits that she plans to publish in a companion book.

At right is a slideshow of some images Mark showed during her talk, along with her anecdotes about them.

Mary Ellen Mark

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Íris Ósk Sigurðardóttir, Safamýrarskóli

- After Mark documented life at a school for disabled children in Iceland, the students were shown the work. Mark was surprised by how many students recognized themselves in the photos. It was a great lesson, she said. "Never underestimate how much someone really understands."

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Clayton Moore, the Former Lone Ranger

- When Mark arrived at Moore's home to take his portrait, he answered the door wearing his Lone Ranger mask. "He was very paranoid," she said.

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Hippopotamus and Performer, Great Rayman Circus

- Mark has photographed in India several times. This image was taken from a traveling-circus series. "Being a woman gave me better access to women and children," she said. "I could walk back into the tents and be very comfortable there."